Method and apparatus for transporting optical images

ABSTRACT

Architecture and designs of wearable display devices are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, at least one optical conduit is embedded in or integrated with a temple of the wearable display device. The optical conduit is used to transport an optical image from one end to another end, where the optical image is generated in an image source (e.g., microdisplay) in accordance with image data. The microdisplay is powered and receives the image data and control signals via an active optical cable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the area of display devicesand more particularly relates to architecture and designs of displaydevices, where a display device is made in form of a pair of glasses,and may be used in various applications including virtual reality andaugmented reality.

Description of the Related Art

Virtual Reality or VR is generally defined as a realistic and immersivesimulation of a three-dimensional environment created using interactivesoftware and hardware, and experienced or controlled by movement of thebody. A person using virtual reality equipment is typically able to lookaround the artificially generated three-dimensional environment, movesaround in it and interacts with features or items that are depicted on ascreen or in goggles. Virtual realities artificially create sensoryexperiences, which can include sight, touch, hearing, and, lesscommonly, smell.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that layers computer-generatedenhancements atop an existing reality in order to make it moremeaningful through the ability to interact with it. AR is developed intoapps and used on mobile devices to blend digital components into thereal world in such a way that they enhance one another, but can also betold apart easily. AR technology is quickly coming into the mainstream.It is used to display score overlays on telecasted sports games and popout 3D emails, photos or text messages on mobile devices. Leaders of thetech industry are also using AR to do amazing and revolutionary thingswith holograms and motion activated commands.

The delivery methods of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality aredifferent when viewed separately. Most 2016-era virtual realities aredisplayed either on a computer monitor, a projector screen, or with avirtual reality headset (also called head-mounted display or HMD). HMDstypically take the form of head-mounted goggles with a screen in frontof the eyes. Virtual Reality actually brings the user into the digitalworld by cutting off outside stimuli. In this way user is solelyfocusing on the digital content being displayed in the HMDs. Augmentedreality is being used more and more in mobile devices such as laptops,smart phones, and tablets to change how the real world and digitalimages, graphics intersect and interact.

In reality, it is not always VR vs. AR as they do not always operateindependently of one another, and in fact are often blended together togenerate an even more immersing experience. For example, hapticfeedback, which is the vibration and sensation added to interaction withgraphics, is considered an augmentation. However, it is commonly usedwithin a virtual reality setting in order to make the experience morelifelike though touch.

Virtual reality and augmented reality are great examples of experiencesand interactions fueled by the desire to become immersed in a simulatedland for entertainment and play, or to add a new dimension ofinteraction between digital devices and the real world. Alone or blendedtogether, they are undoubtedly opening up worlds, both real and virtualalike.

FIG. 1A shows an exemplary goggle now commonly seen in the market forthe application of delivering or displaying VR or AR. No matter how agoggle is designed, it appears bulky and heavy, and causes inconveniencewhen worn on a user. Further most of the goggles cannot be seen through.In other words, when a user wears a goggle, he or she would not be ableto see or do anything else. Thus, there is a need for an apparatus thatcan display the VR and AR but also allows a user to perform other tasksif needed.

Various wearable devices for VR/AR and holographic applications arebeing developed. FIG. 1B shows a sketch of HoloLens from Microsoft. Itweights 579 g (1.2 lbs). With the weight, a wearer won't feelcomfortable when wearing it for a period. Indeed, what is available inthe market is generally heavy and bulky in comparison to normal glasses.Thus there is still another need for a wearable AR/VR viewing or displaydevice that looks similar to a pair of regular glasses but is alsoamenable to smaller footprint, enhanced impact performance, lower costpackaging, and easier manufacturing process.

Many glasses-like display devices employ a common design of positioningimage forming components (such as LCOS) near the front or lens frames,hoping to reduce transmission loss of images and use less components.However, such a design often makes a glasses-like display deviceunbalanced, the front part is much heavier than the rear part of theglasses-like display device, adding some pressure on a nose. There isthus still another need to distribute the weight of such a displaydevice when worn on a user.

Regardless how a wearable display device is designed, there are manycomponents, wires and even batteries that must be used to make thedisplay device function and operable. While there have been greatefforts to move as many parts as possible to an attachable device orenclosure to drive the display device from a user's waist or pocket, theessential parts, such as copper wires, must be used to transmit variouscontrol signals and image data. The wires, often in form of a cable, dohave a weight, which adds a pressure on a wearer when wearing such adisplay device. There is yet another need for a transmission medium thatcan be as light as possible without sacrificing the needed functions.

There are many other needs that are not to be listed individually butcan be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that these needsare clearly met by one or more embodiments of the present inventiondetailed herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This section is for the purpose of summarizing some aspects of thepresent invention and to briefly introduce some preferred embodiments.Simplifications or omissions in this section as well as in the abstractand the title may be made to avoid obscuring the purpose of thissection, the abstract and the title. Such simplifications or omissionsare not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

The present invention is generally related to architecture and designsof wearable devices that may be for virtual reality and augmentedreality applications. According to one aspect of the present invention,a display device is made in form of a pair of glasses and includes aminimum number of parts to reduce the complexity and weight thereof. Aseparate case or enclosure is provided as portable to be affixed orattached to a user (e.g., a pocket or waist belt). The enclosureincludes all necessary parts and circuits to generate content forvirtual reality and augmented reality applications, resulting in aminimum number of parts needed on the glasses, hence smaller footprint,enhanced impact performance, lower cost packaging, and easiermanufacturing process of the glasses. The content is optically picked upby an optical cable and transported by optical fibers in the opticalcable to the glasses, where the content is projected respectively to thelenses specially made for displaying the content before the eyes of thewearer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the glasses (i.e.,the lenses therein) and the enclosure are coupled by an optical cableincluding at least one optical fiber, where the fiber is responsible fortransporting the content or an optical image from one end of the opticalfiber to another end thereof by total internal reflections within thefiber. The optical image is picked up by a focal lens from amicrodisplay in the enclosure.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, each of thelenses includes a prism in a form that propagates an optical image beingprojected onto one edge of the prism to an optical path that a user cansee an image formed per the optical image. The prism is also integratedwith or stacked on an optical correcting lens that is complementary orreciprocal to that of the prism to form an integrated lens for theglasses. The optical correcting lens is provided to correct an opticalpath from the prism to allow the user to see through the integrated lenswithout optical distortions.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, oneexemplary the prism is a waveguide each of the integrated lensesincludes an optical waveguide that propagates an optical image beingprojected onto one end of the waveguide to another end with an opticalpath that a user can see an image formed per the optical image. Thewaveguide may also be integrated with or stacked on an opticalcorrecting lens to form an integrated lens for the glasses.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, theintegrated lens may be further coated with one for more films withoptical characteristics that amplify the optical image before the eyesof the user.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the glassesinclude a few electronic devices (e.g., sensor or microphone) to enablevarious interactions between the wearer and the displayed content.Signals captured by a device (e.g., a depth sensor) are transmitted tothe enclosure via wireless means (e.g., RF or Bluetooth) to eliminatethe wired connections between the glasses and the enclosure.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, instead ofusing two optical cables to transport the images from two microdisplays,a single optical cable is used to transport the images from onemicrodisplay. The optical cable may go through either one of the templesof the glasses. A splitting mechanism disposed near or right on thebridge of the glasses is used to split the images into two versions, onefor the left lens and the other for the right lens. These two images arethen respectively projected into the prisms or waveguides that may beused in the two lenses.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the opticalcable is enclosed within or attached to functional multi-layerstructures which form a portion of an article of clothing. When a userwears a shirt made or designed in accordance with one of the embodiment,the cable itself has less weight while the user can have moreactivities.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, an opticalconduit is used to transport an optical image received from an imagesource (e.g., a microdisplay). The optical conduit is encapsulated in orintegrated with a temple of the display device. Depending onimplementation, the optical conduit comprising a bundle or an array ofoptical fibers may be twisted, thinned or otherwise deformed to fit witha stylish design of the temple while transporting an optical image fromone end to another end of the temple.

To further reduce the weight of the display device, according to stillanother aspect of the present invention, an active optical cable is usedas a communication medium between the display device and a portabledevice, where the portable device is wearable by or attachable to auser. The active optical cable includes two ends and at least oneoptical fiber and two wires, where the two ends are coupled by theoptical fiber and two wires. The two wires carry power and ground toenergize the two ends and the operation of the display device while theat least optical fiber is used to carry all data, control andinstruction signals.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the portabledevice may be implemented as a standalone device or a docking unit toreceive a smartphone. The portable device is primarily a control boxthat is connected to a network (e.g., the Internet) and generatescontrol and instruction signals when controlled by a user. When asmartphone is received in the docking unit, many functions provided inthe smartphone may be used, such as the network interface and touchscreen to receive inputs from the user.

The present invention may be implemented as an apparatus, a method, apart of system. Different implementations may yield different benefits,objects and advantages. In one embodiment, the present invention is apair of glasses comprising: at least a lens, a pair of temples, and aprojection mechanism, disposed near an end of the temple, receiving anoptical image from the temple and projecting the optical image into thelens. At least one temple includes an optical cable, wherein the opticalcable is extended beyond the temple to receive the optical imageoptically picked up by a focal lens that projects the optical image ontoone end of an optical cable. The optical cable includes at least oneoptical fiber to transport the optical image from one end of the opticalcable to another end of the optical cable by total internal reflectionin the optical fiber, and the optical image is projected onto theoptical fiber by a focal lens from a displayed image on a microdisplay.

In another embodiment, the present invention is a display apparatuscomprising: at least a lens, a pair of temples, at least one templeincluding an optical cable, wherein the optical cable is extended beyondthe temple to receive an optical image, a projection mechanism, disposednear an end of the temple, receiving the optical image from the templeand projecting the optical image into the lens, and a sensor and aninfrared lighting source disposed separately around the lens to image aneye looking at the optical image, wherein the eye being illuminated bythe infrared lighting source. The projection mechanism includes a focalmechanism auto-focusing and projecting the optical image onto the firstedge of the prism. The display apparatus further includes a wirelessmodule provided to transmit wirelessly a sensing signal from the sensorto a case including a processor and circuitry to process the sensingsignal and send a feedback signal to control the focal mechanism.

In still another embodiment, the present invention is a wearable displaydevice, it comprises at least a lens, a temple, an optical blockreceiving an optical image from a microdisplay device, at least anoptical conduit with a first end and a second end, and an integratedlens. The optical conduit is integrated within the temple. The first endcoupled to the optical block and receiving the optical image therefrom.The optical image is transported to the second end by total internalreflections within the optical conduit. The integrated lens, coupled tothe second end, receives the optical image from the optical conduit andpresents the optical image for a user of the display device to view animage within the integrated lens.

In still another embodiment, the present invention is a method fortransporting an optical image from a portable device to a wearabledisplay device, the method comprises receiving the optical image from anoptical cube, wherein the optical image is in a reversed aspect ofratio, the optical cube is attached with a microdisplay device and alight source, the optical image is formed by shining illumination (i.e.,light intensities) from the light source onto the microdisplay device.The method further comprises projecting the optical image into anoptical conduit including an array of optical fibers, and physicallyrotated by 90 degrees, rotating the optical image 90 degrees bytransporting the optical image through the optical conduit by totalinternal reflections within the fibers, and receiving the optical imagein a normalized aspect of ratio before projecting the optical image intoan integrated lens for view therein by a viewer.

In still another embodiment, the present invention is a displayapparatus comprising: at least one integrated lens; one active opticalcable including two ends, at least one optical fiber and two wires,wherein the two ends are coupled by the at least one optical fiber andtwo wires. The display apparatus further comprises two temples, at leastone of the temples enclosing the active optical cable; an image sourceintegrated within a frame holding the at least one integrated lens,wherein the active optical cable, communicating with a portable device,receives image data from the active optical cable and generates anoptical image per the image data, the optical image is projected intothe integrated lens for view by a wearer.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention is a system comprisinga pair of wearable display glasses including at least one integratedlens and one temple, the temple including an optical conduittransporting an optical image from one end of the temple to another endof the temple, wherein the optical image is projected into theintegrated lens for a viewer to view an image formed from the opticalimage. The system further comprises a wearable docking unit includingpredefined circuitry to provide image data to generate the opticalimage; and an active optical cable including a first end, a second end,an array of optical fibers and at least two wires, the first and secondends being coupled by the optical fibers and wires.

There are many other objects, together with the foregoing attained inthe exercise of the invention in the following description and resultingin the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1A shows an exemplary goggle now commonly seen in the market forthe application of delivering or displaying VR or AR;

FIG. 1B shows a sketch of HoloLens from Microsoft;

FIG. 2A shows a pair of exemplary glasses that can be used for theapplication of VR according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B illustrates that an optical fiber is used to transmit light fromone place to the other along curved path in a more effective manner orby total internal reflections within the fiber;

FIG. 2C shows two exemplary ways to encapsulate a fiber or a pluralityof fibers according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2D shows how an image is being transported from a microdisplay viaa fiber cable to an imaging medium;

FIG. 2E shows a set of exemplary variable focus elements (VFE) toaccommodate an adjustment of the projection of an image onto an opticalobject (e.g., an imaging medium or a prism);

FIG. 2F shows an exemplary lens that may be used in the glasses shown inFIG. 2A, where the lens includes two parts, a prism and an opticalcorrecting lens or corrector;

FIG. 2G shows the internal reflections from a plurality of sources(e.g., a sensor, an imaging medium and a plurality of light sources) inan irregular prism;

FIG. 2H shows a comparison of such an integrated lens to a coin and aruler;

FIG. 2I shows a shirt in which a cable is enclosed within the shirt orattached thereto;

FIG. 3A shows how three single color images are being combined visuallyand perceived as a full color image by human vision;

FIG. 3B shows that three different color images are generated underthree lights respectively at wavelengths λ1, λ2, and λ3, the imagingmedium includes three films, each coated with a type of phosphor.

FIG. 4 shows that an waveguide is used to transport an optical imagefrom one end of the waveguide to another end thereof;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary functional block diagram that may be used in aseparate case or enclosure to produce content related to virtual realityand augmented reality for display on the exemplary glasses of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 6A shows a modified version of FIG. 2A in which a splittingmechanism is used to split an image propagated or transported by anoptical cable into two parts (e.g., a left and a right image);

FIG. 6B shows an exemplary splitting mechanism according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7A shows an exemplary integration of a plurality of individualfibers integrated and shaped to form an optical fiber conduit;

FIG. 7B shows a conduit shaped as a part of a temple of glasses;

FIG. 7C shows an implementation of a light source that may be used asthe light source of FIG. 7B;

FIG. 7D shows one embodiment in which an optical conduit is not rotatedwhile receiving an optical image with the standard orientation;

FIG. 7E shows an example of a temple that may be used in the displayglasses described in the present invention, where the temple includes anoptical conduit;

FIG. 8A shows what is called herein an active optical cable thatincludes two ends and a plurality of fibers coupled between the twoends;

FIG. 8B and FIG. 8C each show an example of an active optical cable thatincludes four fibers for transporting four channel signals and threewires for the power and ground and a data bus;

FIG. 9A shows a skeleton of a pair of glasses worn on a human being;

FIG. 9B shown an exploded view near the end of a temple of the glasses;

FIG. 9C shows another embodiment in which the display glasses areimplemented as a set of clipped-on glasses on a regular reading glasses;

FIG. 9D shows an embodiment in which an optical conduit is not directlyused in a temple;

FIG. 9E illustrates one embodiment in which an optical block isintegrated in a glasses frame or a lens frame, where the optical blockincludes a cube, microdisplay and a light source;

FIG. 9F shows a mask or a clip-on cover to be used when the displayglasses are used for VR applications;

FIG. 10A shows a block diagram of using a pair of display glasses (i.e.,display device) with a smartphone (e.g., iPhone) according to oneembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10B illustrates an internal functional block diagram of anexemplary docking unit that may be used in FIG. 10A or as an independentportable device that may be operated by a wearer to control the displaydevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The detailed description of the invention is presented largely in termsof procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolicrepresentations that directly or indirectly resemble the operations ofdata processing devices coupled to networks. These process descriptionsand representations are typically used by those skilled in the art tomost effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutuallyexclusive of other embodiments. Further, the order of blocks in processflowcharts or diagrams representing one or more embodiments of theinvention do not inherently indicate any particular order nor imply anylimitations in the invention.

Embodiments of the present invention are discussed herein with referenceto FIGS. 2A-10B. However, those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect tothese figures is for explanatory purposes as the invention extendsbeyond these limited embodiments.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to likeparts throughout the several views. FIG. 2A shows a pair of exemplaryglasses 200 that are used for applications of VR/AR according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The glasses 200 appear nosignificant difference to a pair of normal glasses but include twoflexible cables 202 and 204 that are respectively extended from thetemples 206 and 208. According to one embodiment, each pair of the twoflexible cables 202 and the temples 206 and 208 are integrated orremovably connected at one end thereof and include one or more opticalfibers.

Both of flexible cables 202 are coupled at another end thereof to aportable computing device 210, where the computing device 210 generatesimages based on a microdisplay that are captured by the cables 202. Theimages are transported through the optical fibers in the flexible cables202 by the total internal reflections therein all the way to another endof the optical fibers, where the images are projected onto the lenses inthe glasses 200.

According to one embodiment, each of the two flexible cables 202includes one or more optical fibers. Optical fibers are used to transmitlight from one place to the other along curved path in a more effectivemanner as shown in FIG. 2B. In one embodiment, the optical fibers areformed with thousands of strands of a very fine quality glass or quartzof refractive index about 1.7 or so. The thickness of a strand is tine.The strands are coated with a layer of some material of lower refractiveindex. The ends of the strands are polished and clamped firmly afteraligning them carefully. When light is incident at a small angle at oneend, it gets refracted into the strands (or fibers) and gets incident onthe interface of the fibers and the coating. The angle of incidencebeing greater than the critical angle, the ray of light undergoes totalinternal reflections and essentially transports the light from one endto another end even if the fiber is bent. Depending on theimplementation of the present invention, a single fiber or a pluralityof fibers arranged in parallel may be used to transport an optical imageprojected onto one end of the fiber or fibers to another end thereof.

FIG. 2C shows two exemplary ways to encapsulate a fiber or a pluralityof fibers according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theencapsulated fiber or fibers may be used as the cable 202 or 204 in FIG.2A and extended through each of the non-flexible temples 206 and 208 allthe way to the end thereof. According to one embodiment, the temples 206and 208 are made of a type of material (e.g., plastic or metal) commonlyseen in a pair of regular glasses, a portion of the cable 202 or 204 isembedded or integrated in the temple 206 or 208, resulting in anon-flexible part while another portion of the cable 202 or 204 remainsflexible. According to another embodiment, the non-flexible part and theflexible part of the cable 202 or 204 may be removably connected via atype of interface or connector.

Referring now to FIG. 2D, it shows how an image is being transportedfrom a microdisplay 240 via a fiber cable 242 to an imaging medium 244.As will be further described below, an imaging medium 244 may be aphysical thing (e.g., films) or non-physical thing (e.g., the air). Amicrodisplay is a display that has a very small screen (e.g., less thanan inch). This type of tiny electronic display system was introducedcommercially in the late 1990s. The most common applications ofmicrodisplays include rear-projection TVs and head-mounted displays.Microdisplays may be reflective or transmissive depending upon the waylight is allowed to pass through the display unit. Through a lens 246,an image (not shown) displayed on the microdisplay 240 is picked up byone end of the fiber cable 242 that transports the image to the otherend of the fiber cable 242. Another lens 248 is provided to collect theimage from the fiber cable 242 and projects it to the imaging medium244. Depending on the implementation, there are different types ofmicrodisplays and imaging mediums. Some of the embodiments of themicrodisplays and imaging mediums will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2E shows a set of exemplary variable focus elements (VFE) 250 toaccommodate an adjustment of the projection of an image onto an opticalobject (e.g., an imaging medium or a prism). To facilitate thedescription of various embodiments of the present invention, it isassumed that there is an image medium. As illustrated in FIG. 2E, animage 252 transported by a fiber cable reaches the end surface 254 ofthe fiber cable. The image 252 is focused by a set of lens 256, referredto herein as variable focus elements (VFE), onto an imaging medium 258.The VFE 256 is provided to be adjusted to make sure that the image 252is precisely focused onto the imaging medium 258. Depending theimplementation, the adjustment of the VFE 256 may be done manually orautomatically in accordance with an input (e.g., a measurement obtainedfrom a sensor). According to one embodiment, the adjustment of the VFE256 is performed automatically in accordance with a feedback signalderived from a sensing signal from a sensor looking at an eye (pupil) ofthe wearer wearing the glasses 200 of FIG. 2A.

Referring now to FIG. 2F, it shows an exemplary lens 260 that may beused in the glasses shown in FIG. 2A. The lens 260 includes two parts, aprism 262 and an optical correcting lens or corrector 264. The prism 262and the corrector 264 are stacked to form the lens 260. As the namesuggests, the optical corrector 264 is provided to correct the opticalpath from the prism 262 so that a light going through the prism 262 goesstraight through the corrector 264. In other words, the refracted lightfrom the prism 262 is corrected or de-refracted by the corrector 264. Inoptics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polishedsurfaces that refract light. At least two of the flat surfaces must havean angle between them. The exact angles between the surfaces depend onthe application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of atriangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and incolloquial use a prism usually refers to this type. Prisms can be madefrom any material that is transparent to the wavelengths for which theyare designed. Typical materials include glass, plastic and fluorite.According to one embodiment, the type of the prism 262 is not in fact inthe shape of geometric prisms, hence the prism 262 is referred herein asa freeform prism, which leads the corrector 264 to a form complementary,reciprocal or conjugate to that of the prism 262 to form the lens 260.

On one edge of the lens 260 or the edge of the prism 262, there are atleast three items utilizing the prism 262. Referenced by 267 is animaging medium corresponding to the imaging medium 244 of FIG. 2D or 258of FIG. 2E. Depending on the implementation, the image transported bythe optical fiber 242 of FIG. 2D may be projected directly onto the edgeof the prism 262 or formed on the imaging medium 267 before it isprojected onto the edge of the prism 262. In any case, the projectedimage is refracted in the prism 262 and subsequently seen by the eye 265in accordance with the shapes of the prism 262. In other words, a userwearing a pair of glasses employing the lens 262 can see the image beingdisplayed through or in the prism 262.

A sensor 266 is provided to image the position or movement of the pupilin the eye 265. Again, based on the refractions provided by the prism262, the location of the pupil can be seen by the sensor 266. Inoperation, an image of the eye 265 is captured. The image is analyzed toderive how the pupil is looking at the image being shown through or inthe lens 260. In the application of AR, the location of the pupil may beused to activate an action. Optionally, a light source 268 is providedto illuminate the eye 265 to facilitate the image capture by the sensor266. According to one embodiment, the light source 268 uses a nearinferred source as such the user or his eye 265 would not be affected bythe light source 268 when it is on.

FIG. 2G shows the internal reflections from a plurality of sources(e.g., the sensor 266, the imaging medium 267 and the light source 268).As the prism is uniquely designed in particular shapes or to haveparticular edges, the rays from the sources are reflected several timeswithin the prism 268 and subsequently impinge upon the eye 265. Forcompleteness, FIG. 2H shows a comparison of such a lens to a coin and aruler in sizes.

As described above, there are different types of microdisplays, hencedifferent imaging mediums. The table below summarizes some of themicrodisplays that may be used to facilitate the generation of anoptical image that can be transported by one or more optical fibers oneend to another end thereof by total internal reflection within theoptical fiber(s).

No. Microdisplay types Features Notes 1 LCoS (LCD and OLED) Full colorimage A single displayed on a silicon image 2 LCoS + LED (RGB A singlecolor image Three sequentially) displayed at a time images LCoS + laser(visible, RGB sequentially) LCoS + laser (non-visible) 3 SLM + laser(RGB A single optical color Three sequentially) image optical images 4SLM + laser (non-visible) A single non-visible Need color imageconversion LCoS = Liquid crystal on silicon; LCD = Liquid crystaldisplay; OLED = Organic light-emitting diode; RGB = Red, Green and Blue;and SLM = Spatial light modulation.

In the first case shown above in the table, a full color image isactually displayed on a silicon. As shown in FIG. 2D, the full colorimage can be picked up by a focal lens or a set of lenses that projectthe full image right onto one end of the fiber. The image is transportedwithin the fiber and picked up again by another focal lens at the otherend of the fiber. As the transported image is visible and full color,the imaging medium 244 of FIG. 2D may not be physically needed. Thecolor image can be directly projected onto one edge of the prism 262 ofFIG. 2F.

In the second case shown above in the table, an LCoS is used withdifferent light sources. In particular, there are at least three coloredlight sources (e.g., red, green and blue) used sequentially. In otherwords, a single color image is generated per one light source. The imagepicked up by the fiber is only a single color image. A full color imagecan be reproduced when all three different single color images arecombined. The imaging medium 244 of FIG. 2D is provided to reproduce thefull color image from the three different single color imagestransported respectively by the optical fiber.

FIG. 2I shows a shirt 270 in which a cable 272 is enclosed within theshirt 270 or attached thereto. The shirt 270 is an example of fabricmaterial or multi-layers. Such a relatively thin cable can be embeddedinto the multi-layers. When a user wears such a shirt made or designedin accordance with one of the embodiment, the cable itself has lessweight while the user can have more freedom to move around.

FIG. 3A shows how three single color images 302 are being combinedvisually and perceived as a full color image 304 by human vision.According to one embodiment, three colored light sources are used, forexample, red, green and blue light sources that are turned sequentially.More specifically, when a red light source is turned on, only a redimage is produced as a result (e.g., from a microdisplay). The red imageis then picked up optically and transported by the fiber, andsubsequently projected into the prism 262 of FIG. 2F. As the green andblue lights are turned on afterwards and sequentially, the green andblue images are produced and transported respectively by the fiber, andsubsequently projected into the prism 262 of FIG. 2F. It is well knownthat human vision possesses the ability of combining the three singlecolor images and perceives them as a full color image. With the threesingle color images projected sequentially into the prism, all perfectlyregistered, the eye sees a full color image.

Also in the second case shown above, the light sources can be nearlyinvisible. According to one embodiment, the three light sources producelights near UV band. Under such lighting, three different color imagescan still be produced and transported but are not very visible. Beforethey can be presented to the eyes or projected into the prism, theyshall be converted to three primary color images that can subsequentlybe perceived as a full color image. According to one embodiment, theimaging medium 244 of FIG. 2D is provided. FIG. 3B shows that threedifferent color images 310 are generated under three light sourcesrespectively at wavelengths λ1, λ2, and λ3, the imaging medium 312includes three films 314, each coated with a type of phosphor, asubstance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. In oneembodiment, three types of phosphor at wavelength 405 nm, 435 nm and 465nm are used to convert the three different color images produced underthe three light sources near UV band. In other words, when one suchcolor image is projected onto a film coated with the phosphor at awavelength 405 nm, the single color image is converted as a red imagethat is then focused and projected into the prism. The same process istrue with other two single color images that go through a film coatedwith phosphor at wavelength 435 nm or 465 nm, resulting in green andblue images. When such red, green and blue images are projectedsequentially into the prism, a human vision perceives them together as afull color image.

In the third or fourth case shown above in the table, instead of using alight either in the visible spectrum or near invisible to human eyes,the light source uses a laser source. There are also visible lasers andnon-visible lasers. Operating not much differently from the first andsecond cases, the third or fourth case uses what is called spatial lightmodulation (SLM) to form a full color image. A spatial light modulatoris a general term describing devices that are used to modulateamplitude, phase, or polarization of light waves in space and time. Inother words, SLM+laser (RGB sequentially) can produce three separatecolor images. When they are combined with or without the imaging medium,a full color image can be reproduced. In the case of SLM+laser(non-visible), the imaging medium shall be presented to convert thenon-visible images to a full color image, in which case, appropriatefilms may be used as shown in FIG. 3B.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it shows that an waveguide 400 is used totransport an optical image 402 from one end 404 of the waveguide 400 toanother end 406, wherein the waveguide 400 may be stacked with one ormore pieces of glass or lenses (not shown) or coated with one or morefilms to from a suitable lens for a pair of glasses for the applicationsof displaying images from a computing device. It is known to thoseskilled in that art that an optical waveguide is a spatiallyinhomogeneous structure for guiding light, i.e. for restricting thespatial region in which light can propagate, where a waveguide containsa region of increased refractive index, compared with the surroundingmedium (often called cladding).

The waveguide 400 is transparent and shaped appropriately at the end of404 to allow the image 402 to be propagated along the waveguide 400 tothe end 406, where a user 408 can see through the waveguide 400 so as tosee the propagated image 410. According to one embodiment, one or morefilms are disposed upon the waveguide 400 to amplify the propagatedimage 410 so that the eye 408 can see a significantly amplified image412. One example of such films is what is called metalenses, essentiallyan array of thin titanium dioxide nanofins on a glass substrate.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it shows an exemplary functional block diagram500 that may be used in a separate case or enclosure to produce contentrelated to virtual reality and augmented reality for display on theexemplary glasses of FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 5, there are twomicrodisplays 502 and 504 provided to supply content to both of lensesin the glasses of FIG. 2A, essentially a left image goes to the leftlens and a right image goes to the right lens. An example of the contentis 2D or 3D images and video, or hologram. Each of the microdisplays 502and 504 is driven by a corresponding driver 506 or 508.

The entire circuit 500 is controlled and driven by a controller 510 thatis programmed to generate the content. According to one embodiment, thecircuit 500 is designed to communicate with the Internet (not shown),receive the content from other devices. In particular, the circuit 500includes an interface to receive a sensing signal from a remote sensor(e.g., the sensor 266 of FIG. 2F) via a wireless means (e.g., RF orBluetooth). The controller 510 is programmed to analyze the sensingsignal and provides a feedback signal to control certain operations ofthe glasses, such as a projection mechanism that includes a focalmechanism auto-focusing and projecting the optical image onto an edge ofthe prism 262 of FIG. 2F. In addition, the audio is provided tosynchronize with the content, and may be transmitted to earphoneswirelessly.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary circuit 500 to produce the content for displayin a pair of glasses contemplated in one embodiment of the presentinvention. The circuit 500 shows that there are two microdisplays 502and 504 used to provide two respective images or video streams to thetwo lenses of the glasses in FIG. 2A. According to one embodiment, onlyone microdisplay may be used to drive the two lenses of the glasses inFIG. 2A. Such a circuit is not provided herein as those skilled in theart know how the circuit can be designed or how to modify the circuit500 of FIG. 5.

Given one video stream or one image, the advantage is that there is onlyone optical cable needed to transport the image. FIG. 6A shows amodified version 600 of FIG. 2A to show that one cable 602 is used tocouple the enclosure 210 to the glasses 208. Instead of using twooptical cables to transport the images from two microdisplays as shownin FIG. 2A, a single optical cable is used to transport the images fromone microdisplay. The optical cable may go through either one of thetemples of the glasses and perhaps further to part of one top frame. Asplitting mechanism disposed near or right on the bridge of the glassesis used to split the images into two versions, one for the left lens andthe other for the right lens. These two images are then respectivelyprojected into the prisms or waveguides that may be used in the twolenses.

To split the image propagated or transported by the cable 602, theglasses 600 are designed to include a splitting mechanism 604 that ispreferably disposed near or at the bridge thereof. FIG. 6B shows anexemplary splitting mechanism 610 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. A cube 612, also called X-cube beam splitter used tosplit incident light into two separate components, is provided toreceive the image from a microdisplay via the cable 602. In other words,the image is projected onto one side of the X-cube 612. The X-cube 612is internally coated with certain reflecting materials to split theincident image into two parts, one goes to the left and the other goesto the right as shown in FIG. 6B. A split image goes through a polarizedplate 614 or 616 to hit a reflector 618 or 620 that reflects the imageback to the polarized reflective mirror 626 or 628. The two polarizedplates 614 and 616 are polarized differently (e.g., in horizontally andvertically or circular left and right) corresponding to the imagessequentially generated either for left eye or right eye. Coated withcertain reflective material, the polarized reflective mirror 626 or 628reflects the image to the corresponding eye. Depending on theimplementation, the reflected image from the polarized reflective mirror626 or 628 may be impinged upon one edge of the prism 262 of FIG. 2F orthe waveguide 400 of FIG. 4. Optionally, Two wave plates 622 and 624 arerespectively disposed before the reflectors 618 and 620.

FIG. 2B or FIG. 2D shows an optical fiber cable 220 or 242 is used totransport an image from one end to another end. The use of the opticalfibers, typically encapsulated in a flexible material such as plastic,can significantly reduce the weight of the glasses. According to oneembodiment, a fiber cable is made with a plurality of optical fibersintegrated in parallel to form an optical fiber conduit. FIG. 7A showsan exemplary integration of an optical fiber conduit 700. A plurality ofindividual fibers are integrated and shaped to form an optical fiberconduit 700 with a cross section thereof being a predefined shape (e.g.,rectangular or square). When an optical image is projected onto one endof the conduit 700, light beams of the image travel respectively in thefibers by total internal reflections in each of the fibers and reachanother end of the conduit 700.

Referring now to FIG. 7B, it shows a conduit 710 is shaped as a part ofa temple of the glasses. In general, an image being projected onto oneend of the conduit 710 has an aspect of ratio of 4:3 or 16:9. Regardlessof an exact number of the ratio (an attribute describes the relationshipbetween the width and height of an image), the horizontal dimension ofthe image is often longer than the vertical dimension. Preferably, theconduit 710 is in a shape having a ratio similar to that of the image,which would result in the temple appearing thick horizontally. Accordingto one embodiment, the conduit 710 is twisted by 90 degrees in certainpart. In other words, the conduit 710 starts with a ratio inverselysimilar to that of the image and then ends with a ratio similar to thatof the image. For an image with a ratio of 16:9 (i.e.,horizontal:vertical), a first part of the conduit 200 is made with aratio of 9:16 and a second part of the conduit 200 is made with a ratioof 16:9. One of the important advantages, benefits and objectives ofthis implementation is to have the two temples of the glasses designedto look less bulky (i.e., sleek or stylish) even when they are usedinherently or include a conduit to transport images or videos.

FIG. 7B shows that the conduit 710 is twisted by 90 degrees near one endof the conduit 710. An optical image is projected from an image source712 onto a beginning part 714 of the conduit 200, where the image source712 may be readily rotated to accommodate the shape of the beginninginterface 714. It is assumed that an image from the image source has aratio of 9:16. As a result, the first portion 716 of the conduit 710 canbe made thinner horizontally than vertically. The conduit 710 is thenrotated by 90 degrees in a second part 718 of the conduit 710, the imageis also rotated by 90 degrees. As a result, the image coming out of anending part 720 of the conduit 710 has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and maybe projected into an integrated lens (e.g., 260 of FIG. 2F) or awaveguide (e.g., 400 of FIG. 4) for normal viewing.

Depending on the implementation, the image source 712 may be simply aprojection from the optical fiber cable 220 or 242 of FIG. 2B or FIG.2D, an optical image generated from a micro display device(microdisplay) 222 or an optical cube providing an optical image.According to one embodiment, the micro display device 222 (e.g., anLCOS) is provided to generate an optical image that is projected intothe optical cube 712. Two enlarged versions of the cube 712 are alsoshown in FIG. 7B. In one embodiment, the cube 714 includes two opticalpieces or blocks 717 and 718 in triangular shape. A special opticalmaterial or film 720 is provided between the two blocks 717 and 718. Alight source 722 projects a light into the block 717. The light is thenturned to the microdisplay 222 by the film 720 to shine the microdisplay222. The microdisplay 222 generates the optical image with the lightfrom the light source 722. The image is then reflected into the block718 and passes through the film 720. The image is further projected ontothe beginning part 714 of the conduit 710 for transmission within theconduit 710 to the second end 720 thereof. One of the importantadvantages, benefits and advantages in this implementation is the use ofoptical fibers to transmit an image from one end to another end withoutsignificantly increasing the metal weight that would be otherwisepresent when a cable with an array of wires is used. According to oneembodiment, a waveguide 726 is provided to transport the projectedoptical image to a proper position and form an image based on theprojected optical image.

According to one embodiment, FIG. 7C shows an implementation of thelight source 730 that may be used as the light source 722 of FIG. 7B.The light source 730 includes a light guide 732, a shade 734 and anumber of lights 736 (two of which are shown). Illumination from thelights 736 is projected into the guide 732. In one embodiment, the shade734 is reflective on one side and opaque on the other side. Such a shade734 is provided to reflect the illumination onto the block 717, besidespreventing any of the illumination from going out of the guide 730. Inother words, the shade 734 may be made with a film with one side beingreflective and the other side being opaque.

The description of FIG. 7B is based on the assumption that the receivedoptical image at the first end 714 of the conduit 710 is already rotatedby 90 degrees. Therefore the conduit is made to rotate 90 degrees backto normalize the image orientation. Those skilled in the art mayappreciate that the above description is equally applicable to areceived image rotated by any degree, in which case the conduit 710 canbe made to rotate back an equal amount to normalize the imageorientation. FIG. 7D shows one embodiment in which an optical conduit750 is not rotated while receiving an optical image with the standardorientation (e.g., maintaining an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 4:3). Anoptical image from the image source 752 is made to pass through anoptical lens 754 that may shrink the image vertically or horizontally orboth accordingly. To facilitate the description of the presentinvention, it is assumed that the lens 754 only shrinks a received imagehorizontally by a predefined amount (e.g., 70%). As a result, the widthor thickness of the conduit 750 can be made thinner. On the other end ofthe conduit 750, there is a second lens 756. Optically, the lens 756does the opposite of what the lens 754 does, namely expanding the imagehorizontally by a predefined amount (e.g., 1/0.70), to recover thedimensions of the original image from the cube 752.

In operation, an optical image with an aspect of ratio being X:Y (e.g.,16:9) from the image source 752 is projected through the (horizontallyshrinking) lens 754. The aspect of ratio is now Y:Y (e.g., 9:9). Theoptically distorted image is transported through the conduit 750 andthen is projected through the lens 756. As described above, the lens 756expands a light beam horizontally, resulting in the recovery of theoptically distorted image to a normal image with an aspect of rationbeing X:Y (16:9). One of the advantages, benefits and objectives of thisembodiment is to have a temple designed normally or with style, evenwhen it is used to transport optical images or videos therein. In otherwords, the conduit 750 may be designed in any sizes or shapes as long asthe pair of the lenses 754 and 756 are conjugate, which means theyoperates optically just opposite.

FIG. 7E shows an example of a temple 760 that may be used in the displayglasses described in the present invention. Whatever the material thetemple 660 may use, it encapsulates an optical conduit 762 (e.g., theconduit 710 or 750) and an image source 764. As the optical conduit 762is made of an array of optical fibers, it may be structured per apredefined shape and even curved if needed. In a summary, the conduit762 is made part of the temple 760. The image source 764 is preferablypositioned near one end of the end of the conduit 762, and may also beenclosed in the temple 760 according to one embodiment.

Regardless of how the image source 764 is structured, there has to be atleast some wires that are used to couple the image source 764 to aportable device to receive image data, various signals and instructions.According to one embodiment, a microdisplay in the image source 712 or752 requires power to operate and receives electronic signals togenerate images/videos as expected. When the microdisplay is moved in ornear a temple, the power and signals must be brought to themicrodisplay. Various copper wires would have to be used. In a prior artsystem, a cable including one or more conductors or wires is commonlyused. However, the weight of the cable is significantly heavier than afiber cable and could add certain pressure on the glasses when the twotemples are connected or attached to such a cable. In general, the morewires in a cable, the heavier a temple could be.

According to one embodiment, most of these wires are replaced by fibers.FIG. 8A shows what is called herein an active optical cable 800 thatincludes two ends 802 and 804 and at least one fiber 806 coupled betweenthe two ends 802 and 804. In addition, there are at least two wires (notvisible) in FIG. 8A embedded with the fiber 806, one for power and theother for ground. These two wires are essentially to supply the powerfrom one end to another end. Depending on how or how many signals needto go through the cable 800, the number of the fibers 803 may vary orconstant. The two ends 802 and 804 may be implemented as pluggable(e.g., USB-C type) depending on an actual need. Each of the two ends 802and 804 includes a converter (e.g., a photodiode) to convert anelectronic signal to a light or convert a light to an electronic signal.Each of the two ends 802 and 804 further includes necessary integratedcircuits to perform encoding or decoding functions if needed, namely adata set or electronic signal when received is encoded and presented ina colored light or the colored light when received is decoded to recoverthe electronic signal. The details of the end 802 or 804 are not to befurther provided herein to obscure other aspects of the presentinvention. It is assumed that the cable 800 is used to transport a setof signals from the end 802 to the end 804. When the end 802 receivesthe signals, the converter in the end 802 converts the signals to alight beam including a set of optical signals, where each of the opticalsignal is encoded per one of the signals. Alternatively, a set of beamsis produced by the converter, each beam corresponds to one of thesignals. A light beam is then transported within a fiber from the firstend 802 to the second end 804. Once reaching the second end 804, aconverter in the second end 804 converts the light beam back into one ormore electronic signals. It can be appreciated by those skilled in theart that the cable 800 is much lighter than an wire-based cable thatwould be otherwise used to carry these signals. It can also be readilyunderstood that the active optical cable needs one or more opticalfibers to transmit data, control signals or various instructions neededto present appropriate images/videos to a viewer.

FIG. 8A lists specifications such a cable 808 may be implemented basedupon. The number of fibers may be individually specified depending onthe implementation. In one example, image data in red, green and blue isrespectively transported in three different fibers while the controlsignals are transported in one fiber, thus making a 4-channel fibersconfiguration for the active optical cable. FIG. 8A also shows theflexibility of such a fiber-based cable that may be folded or extendedwithout loss of the signals. FIG. 8B and FIG. 8C each show an example ofthe cable 800 that includes 4 fibers for transporting image data andcontrol signals and three wires for the power, ground and a I2C databus, but with different interfaces (LVDS vs. DisplayPort). As the powerconsumption is small in this type of application, the wire for the poweror the ground can be made very thin to reduce the weight of the cable800.

Referring now to FIG. 9A, it shows a skeleton of a pair of glasses 900worn on a human being. FIG. 9B shown an exploded view near the end of atemple of the glasses 900. The temple includes an optical conduit 902.One end of the conduit 902 is coupled to an optical image source 904 toreceive an optical image therefrom. The source 904 includes amicrodisplay 906 and an optical cube 908. With an active optical cable910, the optical image source 904 receives control signals as well asimage or video data to produce the optical images or videos. The opticalsignals are projected into and transported via the conduit 902 toanother end thereof.

FIG. 9C shows another embodiment in which the display glasses areimplemented as a set of clipped-on glasses 920 on a regular glasses.Slightly different from the regular clipped-on sun glasses, the glasses920 include at least one temple 922, where the temple 922 encapsulatesone optical conduit to transmit an optical image from one end toanother. It should be noted that the temple 922 is truncated. It is notnecessarily extended all the way to an ear of a human being or wearer.Depending on the implementation, the length of the truncated temple 922may be around one inch or extended to the ear. One of the purposes tohave such a truncated temple 922 is to distribute the weight of theclipped-on glasses 920 or pressure away from the nose largelyresponsible for holding the glasses 924 as well as the clipped-onglasses 920. An active optical cable (not shown) is provided to couplethe truncated temple 922 to a portable device (not shown).

As an option or comparison, FIG. 9D shows an embodiment in which anoptical conduit is not directly used in a temple. Instead, an imagesource 930 is provided near a piece of integrated lens (e.g., 260 ofFIG. 2F). The image source 930 is implemented as a block or an opticalblock as it includes an optical cube. The block 930 is shown to bepositioned near the display lens (e.g., the integrated lens 260 of FIG.2F). FIG. 9E illustrates one embodiment in which the block 930 isintegrated in a glasses frame or a lens frame 932. Instead of using anoptical conduit, an active optical cable 934 is used to deliver a dataimage all the way near the integrated lens (not shown), where the block930 including a microdisplay device and a light source generates anoptical image per the data image. The active optical cable 934 isembedded in or integrated with the temple 936. The optical image is thenprojected into the integrated lens as shown in FIG. 2F. As an option,FIG. 9F shows an embodiment in which a display device can be coveredwith a mask. In some applications (e.g., VR or viewing a length video),the see-through feature of the display glasses may impose somedisruptions when the ambient light or movement are relatively strong.Thus a mask 940 is provided and may be mounted onto the display glasses942. In particular, the mask 940 is intended to disable the see-throughfeature of the display glasses 942, so the viewer may concentrate theviewing of the video being displayed in the lenses 944 and 946.According to one embodiment, the mask 940 is made opaque to block thelights (e.g., ambient lights) from the surrounding. For convenience, themask 940 may be made in the form of sunglasses clip-on for easy on oroff. In one embodiment, the mask 940 may also be made as a goggle toblock nearly all of the ambient lighting from the surrounding.

Referring now to FIG. 10A, it shows a block diagram 1000 of using a pairof display glasses (i.e., display device) 1002 with a smartphone (e.g.,iPhone), according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theglasses 200 of FIG. 2A or the glasses 900 of FIG. 9A may be used as thedisplay device 1002. A cable 1004 (e.g., the active optical cable 800 ofFIG. 8A) is used to couple the glasses 1002 to a docking unit 1006, thedocking unit 1006 is provided to receive a smartphone. The docking unit1006 allows a user (i.e., a wearer of the display device 1002) tocontrol the display device 1002, for example, to select a media fordisplay, to interact with a display, to activate or deactivate anapplication (e.g., email, browser and mobile payment).

According to one embodiment, the docking unit 1006 includes a set ofbatteries that may be charged via a power cord and used to charge thesmartphone when there is a need. One of the advantages, benefits andobjectives in the embodiment of providing a docking unit is to use manyfunctions already in the smartphone. For example, there is no need toimplement a network interface in the docking unit because the smartphonehas the interface already. In operation, a user can control thesmartphone to obtain what is intended for, the content of which can bereadily displayed or reproduced on the display device via the cable 1004coupling the docking unit 1006 to the display device 1002.

As shown in FIG. 10A, the docking unit 1006 includes two parts, eitherone or both may be used in one implementation. The first part includes areceiving unit to receive a smartphone and may or may not have a batterypack that can be recharged and charge the smartphone when there is oneand the smartphone is received the second part includes variousinterfaces to communicate with the smartphone to receive data andinstructions therefrom for the display device 1002 to displayimages/videos for the wearer to view. One of the important features,benefits and advantages in the present invention is the use of an activeoptical cable to couple the portable device to the display device 1002.In general, the portable device is worn by the wearer (e.g., attached toa belt or pocket). In one embodiment, the clothing 270 of FIG. 2I may beused to conceal the cable and provide more freedom for the wearer tomove around.

Referring now to FIG. 10B, it illustrates an internal functional blockdiagram 1100 of an exemplary docking unit that may be used in FIG. 10Aor as an independent portable device that may be operated by a wearer tocontrol the display device 1002. The device, as shown in FIG. 10B,includes a microprocessor or microcontroller 1022, a memory space 1024in which there is an application module 1026, an input interface 1028,an image buffer 1030 to drive a display device via a display interface1032 and a network interface 1034. The application module 1026 is asoftware version representing one embodiment of the present invention,and downloadable over a network from a library (e.g., Apple Store) or adesignated server. One exemplary function provided by the applicationmodule 1026 is to allow a user (or a wearer of the display device) toenable certain interactions with a display by predefined movements of aneye being sensed by the sensor 266 of FIG. 2F.

The input interface 1028 includes one or more input mechanisms. A usermay use an input mechanism to interact with the display device byentering a command to the microcontroller 1022. Examples of the inputmechanisms include a microphone or mic to receive an audio command and akeyboard (e.g., a displayed soft keyboard) or a touch screen to receivea command. Another example of an input mechanism is a camera provided tocapture a photo or video, where the data for the photo or video isstored in the device for immediate or subsequent use with theapplication module 1026. The image buffer 1030, coupled to themicrocontroller 1022, is provided to buffer image/video data used togenerate the optical image/videos for display on the display device. Thedisplay interface 1032 is provided to drive the active optical cable andfeeds the data from the image buffer 1030 thereto. In one embodiment,the display interface 1032 is caused to encode certain instructionsreceived on the input interface 1028 and send them along the activeoptical cable. The network interface 1034 is provided to allow thedevice 1100 to communicate with other devices via a designated medium(e.g., a data network). It can be appreciated by those skilled in theart that certain functions or blocks shown in FIG. 10B are readilyprovided in a smartphone and are not needed to be implemented when sucha smartphone is used in a docking unit.

The present invention has been described in sufficient detail with acertain degree of particularity. It is understood to those skilled inthe art that the present disclosure of embodiments has been made by wayof examples only and that numerous changes in the arrangement andcombination of parts may be resorted without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent invention is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

I claim:
 1. A method for transporting an optical image, the methodcomprising: receiving the optical image from an optical cube, whereinthe optical image is in two dimensions and a reversed aspect of ratio,the optical cube is attached with a microdisplay device and a lightsource, the optical image is formed by shining illumination from thelight source onto the microdisplay device; projecting the optical imageinto an optical conduit with first and second ends, wherein the firstend receives and the second end exits the optical image, the conduitincludes an array of optical fibers, and is physically twisted by 90degrees with respect to the first and second ends; rotating the opticalimage 90 degrees by transporting the optical image through the opticalconduit by total internal reflections within the fibers; receiving theoptical image at the second end of the optical conduit in a normalizedaspect of ratio before projecting the optical image into an integratedlens of a pair of display glasses for view therein by a viewer, whereinthe optical conduit is integrated with a temple of the display glasses.2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the integrated lenscomprises: a prism receiving the optical image projected onto a firstedge of the prism, the optical image being seen by a wearer from asecond edge of the prism; and an optical correcting lens integrated withthe prism to correct an optical path coming out from the prism.
 3. Themethod as recited in claim 1, wherein said projecting the optical imageinto an optical conduit comprises: focusing by a focal lens the opticalimage from the optical block onto the first end of the optical conduit.4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising: receiving powerto energize the microdisplay device via an active optical cableincluding an array of optical fibers and at least two wires, one for thepower and the other for ground.
 5. The method as recited in claim 4,further comprising: receiving various control signals from the opticalfibers in the active optical cable.
 6. The method as recited in claim 5,wherein the active optical cable includes a first end and a second end,and at least two wires, both of the first and second ends are coupledwith the optical fibers of the active optical cable, the first endconverts electronic signals to light beams that are travelled in theoptical fibers of the active optical cable, the second end converts thelight beams back to the electronic signals.
 7. An apparatus fortransporting an optical image, the apparatus comprising: an optical cubeincluding a light source to shine onto a microdisplay to produce theoptical image, wherein the optical image is in two dimensions and areversed aspect of ratio; an optical conduit having first and secondends, the first end receiving and the second end exiting the opticalimage, wherein the conduit includes an array of optical fibers, and isphysically twisted by 90 degrees with respect to the first and secondends, the optical image is rotated 90 degrees when going through theoptical conduit by total internal reflections within the fibers; a lensprovided to receive the optical image at the second end of the opticalconduit in a normalized aspect of ratio before projecting the opticalimage into an integrated lens of a pair of display glasses for viewtherein by a viewer, wherein the optical conduit is integrated with atemple of the display glasses.
 8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7,wherein the integrated lens comprises: a prism receiving the opticalimage projected onto a first edge of the prism, the optical image beingseen by a wearer from a second edge of the prism; and an opticalcorrecting lens integrated with the prism to correct an optical pathcoming out from the prism.
 9. The apparatus as recited in claim 7,further comprising: a focal lens, disposed between the optical block andthe first end of the optical conduit, receiving and focusing the opticalimage onto the first end of the first end of the optical conduit. 10.The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein the microdisplay isenergized via an active optical cable including an array of opticalfibers and at least two wires, one for power and the other for ground.11. The apparatus as recited in claim 10, wherein the optical fibers inthe active optical cable provide various control signals.
 12. Theapparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the active optical cableincludes a first end and a second end, both of the first and second endsare coupled with the optical fibers of the active optical cable, thefirst end converts electronic signals to light beams that are travelledin the optical fibers of the active optical cable, the second endconverts the light beams back to the electronic signals.